Charity gift after iPod claim row

Nick Bourne and Alun Cairns have donated a total of £450 to charity Betsan Powys: i-Give

Welsh Conservative leader Nick Bourne has donated £250 to charity after it was revealed he claimed an iPod on expenses, the BBC understands.

He gave the money to the NSPCC after he was criticised for using public funds for the portable music player, which he said he bought to learn Welsh.

Fellow Tory AM Alun Cairns, who also claimed for an iPod, is giving £200 to the Help the Heroes charity.

The two iPod claims were worth a combined £398 in office costs.

Questions have been raised about Mr Bourne's future as party leader after a breakdown of assembly members' expenses was made public.

As well as the iPod, it emerged he had spent more than £5,000 over the past two years on his bathroom and also bought a £120 trouser press.

It came only weeks after he had to apologise following a row over an internal document the party issued about First Minister Rhodri Morgan.

Tory AM for Cardiff North Jonathan Morgan has written to Mr Bourne, who represents Mid and West Wales, saying there needs to be an assessment of the damage caused by coverage of AMs' expenses.

But he said his call for a meeting before Christmas had been rejected by the party whip.

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